While Travis Irving never set out to be a fighter, he quickly found out the role suited him very well.

Playing in the now defunct Western Hockey Association Junior Hockey League with the Osoyoos Spurs, Irving remembers one of his first scraps.

“We were playing Squamish and their big huge guy, some how, I ended up fighting him,” Irving said. “And I just kept throwing after that.”

Ever since then, fisticuffs have been a staple of the 19-year-old’s game.

Sitting in the Langley Chiefs’ dressing room after a recent practice, Irving sports stitches on the bridge of his nose.

The stitches are not from an opposing player’s fist, but rather from Irving’s own visor clipping his nose during a recent bout.

During his season and a half in the BCHL, Irving has doled out more punishment than he has received.

Ask his coaching staff or any of his teammates, and they all rave about the physical presence the six-foot-four Irving brings to the roster.

“He brings that physical element,” said Chiefs coach and general manager Harvey Smyl.

“He is an intimidating-type player.

“The size, and his presence out there, when he gets going and makes contact out there, he draws attention.”

Irving’s path to the Chiefs and the junior A BCHL has not been a normal one either.

Growing up in Maple Ridge, he never played at the rep A level, instead playing one level down, at rep B.

When his minor hockey days were done, Irving found himself in the WHA with Osoyoos before playing junior B with his hometown Ridge Meadows Flames.

After catching the eye of Langley associate head coach Barry Wolff, Irving showed up at Chiefs training camp last season as one of the few unsigned players.

Usually an unsigned player is a long-shot to make the team, but Irving did not let that deter him.

“I came to camp and had to prove myself because I wasn’t a sure thing,” he explained.

“I just came to camp with a good mindset and worked hard.”

Last season, Irving had just two points (one goal, one assist) in 51 games. He did lead the Chiefs in penalty minutes, however, racking up 163 minutes spent in the sin bin. That total tied the league lead as well.

This season, he has added some offence to his game, scoring four times and setting up four others through 26 games.

Of course, he still has a team-high 81 penalty minutes, which is fourth highest in the BCHL.

He fought 18 times last season, or about once every three games, and has eight more scraps under his belt this season.

Smyl said that Irving is fiercely competitive and hates finishing second, which probably explains why he has been on the winning end of more scraps than he has lost.

While Irving wants to grow as a player and expand his role, he has not tried to change his game and be something that he is not.

“It is something that I like to do,” he said. “It is my role and I don’t mind doing it.”

His success comes from experience.

“I know what to do in different situations,” he explained. “And my attitude in the fight.”

Irving has also concentrated on using more technique when fighting this season rather than just throwing blindly.

Knowing when to fight is not as simple as dropping the gloves.

Usually it comes down to if the team needs a spark or if the opposition is taking liberties with some of the Chiefs skilled players.

“You just have to use your head and know when to fight,” Irving explained.

“You don’t want to give the other team momentum (by losing).”

While winning a scrap is great, Irving said you can’t get too high because you could easily be on the other end.

And Irving is a dual-sport athlete, as he spends his summers playing box lacrosse with the New Westminster Salmonbellies. He helped the team advance to the B.C. Junior A Lacrosse League championship series.